


The poets are right

by Areah51



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Drabbles, F/M, I'll take prompts, I'm just flushing out all my ideas, Implied Poe Dameron/Finn, M/M, Tags will be added, Teacher Ben Solo, Teacher-Student Relationship, each chapter is stands on its own, rey studies engineering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 10:31:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15661428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areah51/pseuds/Areah51
Summary: “All right, allow me to swoop in and save the day.” Poe nods his head to the terrace, “Kylo Ren and Ben Solo are the same person. Kylo’s his teaching name, because people always tried to add him on social media, and since it’s not appropriate-“ he insists, cutting a sharp look at Rey, “-to mingle with the student body, he chose a name for school. It’s not that unusual.”





	The poets are right

**Author's Note:**

> Snippets of different Reys and Bens while I try to hold onto a story line I want to work on for a proper fic. In the meantime, have all my weird reylo dreams and enjoy this trash boat.  
> I will absolutely consider your prompt if you wanted.

 

When Rey walks into the house, she’s greeted by dim lights and soft house music, the open French door at the back of the flat leading to the terrace open to reveal a group of a dozen people sat close together, huddled around their small IKEA table, sharing wine and stories. Rey steadily approaches the terrace after dropping her keys into the bowl on the counter. She takes a look at the clock on the white wall of the open kitchen, and reads 9pm. She’d gotten home later than she’d expected from the engineering lab, but she’s glad to notice she hasn’t missed the gathering entirely; Poe never would’ve let her live it down.

 

_(“You always put studying before fun, you have to live a little.”_

_“Say the workaholic TA.”)_

Finn is the first one to see her come in. He stands up, breaking his conversation with Poe and a ginger guy she’s never seen before, and waves her in enthusiastically. “Peanut!” he calls, and a few heads turn to acknowledge her presence. She surveys the group and her eyes grow wide and she releases a choked gasp when she sees- She doesn’t move from her spot by the open sliding doors, and retreats further in the flat when Finn moves inside as well, joining her. She looks like she’s seen a ghost, and maybe she has. Her roommate frowns, tilting his head.

“Are you okay?” he ventures slowly, and Rey nods quickly to the group chatting outside.

“What’s he doing here?” she whisper-yells, pointing vaguely to the gathering of people on the other side of the wall.

“He who?”

Rey raises her eyes to the ceiling, sending a quick prayer to whoever orchestrated this, and turns him around, nearly shoving him face into the window.

“Are you telling me you don’t recognize this guy?” she mutters urgently, adding before he can protest further, “the one dressed in that white long sleeved shirt. Fat nose, prominent ears?”

She’s listing his flaws, she knows. But better to train her brain to look at the things she shouldn’t find attractive than- his eyes, previously focused on a tall blonde with whom he seemed to be engaged in conversation with, suddenly lock on hers through the window, and Rey drops to the floor, disappearing from his view, dragging Finn with her.  She’s doesn’t see him spit his red wine everywhere.

“Rey,” Finn complains, trying and failing to read his best friend’s behaviour, “What on Earth are you doing?”

Thankfully, she stays on the floor with her.

“It’s the guy, Finn.” She insists.

“The gu— the _guy_?” Dots finally link together and Finn’s dumbstruck expression almost makes Rey smile. Almost.

“Professor Kylo Ren is the dude you hooked up with at Jessika Pava’s get together?” he sputters, raising his body to get a better look, just as Rey pulls him back down, whispering furiously, “Kylo Re— I thought his name was Ben Solo?” she asks, just as the sliding door opens again to reveal Poe, casually entering the kitchen and closing the door once again behind him. He pauses for a second, looking at the scene. Finn swears Poe’s eyes sort of roll to the ceiling.

“Just pretend I’m not there”, he suggests, slowly walking to the fridge to retrieve the chilled bottle of red. Silence fills the room as he fills his glass, casually glancing at the couple on the floor. Finn’s looking at him pleadingly, and Poe considers them for a moment. He seems to come to an agreement with himself when he sets the bottle on the counter cautiously.

“All right, allow me to swoop in and save the day.” He nods his head to the terrace, “Kylo Ren and Ben Solo are the same person. Kylo’s his teaching name, because people always tried to add him on social media, and since it’s not appropriate-“ he insists, cutting a sharp look at Rey, “-to mingle with the student body, he chose a name for school. It’s not that unusual.”

“He’s a teacher?” Rey chokes out, horrified, just as the door opens again, and the subject of the conversation enters the tense environment.

His face does not betray anything, impassable as ever, and Poe, ever the gentleman, interrupts the silence once again, “Well, we should go back to the terrace, Finn, help me carry the wine bottle?”

And just like they, Rey finds herself alone with Kylo Ren.

Poe’s instincts are usually correct, and his gut is telling him his best friend absolutely had sex with a student unknowingly. What Poe’s instinct aren’t sure about, is how said best friend will handle the sticky situation. Better to exist the premises, Ben Solo isn’t known for his chill.

Once alone in the room, Rey can tell something about Ben’s— Kylo’s demeanour changes slightly. It could be how he’s worrying the inside of his lower lip, or how his eyes cannot stay on hers, moving every which place like he’s a criminal hiding something. The red wine stain on his white shirt doesn’t help the imagery. Rey decides she can try to defuse the tension. As she stands up, she manages a low, “So, you’re not a student”.

It’s the wrong thing to say, as Ben’s whole posture freezes.

“I didn’t mean to take advantage of you”, he vehemently professes as if attacked, and Rey raises her hands in defence.

“I never said you did, Ben— um, Mr Ren?” she corrects herself uncertainly, and Ben shakes his head once, eyes downcast.

“We both know Kylo Ren isn’t my actual name”, he admonishes, softly this time. Rey thinks of when she’d reverently sighed his name – his real name, and cringes. She thinks she should probably feel more concerned about Ben’s work status, but now that the cat’s out of the bag, everything starts to make much more sense. She looks at him, really taking him in, and asks, “How old are you, Ben?”

“I probably shouldn’t tell a student this kind of information” he muses sheepishly, and Rey actually rolls her eyes. “You also probably shouldn’t sleep with them, and yet here we are”.

Strangely, she thinks she might have the upper hand in this situation, and she decides to use it. Casually, she turns around, finding the dirty dishes piled on the counter. Seeing it as a perfect distraction from his face, she grabs the sponge and starts running the hot water, cleaning plate after plate.

“I didn’t know.” His voice is close, and she feels more than sees him pick up a rag to start drying the cleaned plates.

“I don’t blame you”, she shrugs, “Neither did I”.

“Perhaps in the future, if we don’t know who people are or how old they are, we should avoid having sex with them,” she suggests aloud. It’s not an accusation, but Ben feels it all the same. He scowls at himself, inwardly cringing. She’s not older than 23, he’s sure, and that wouldn’t have bothered him but… she’s a student.

Maybe not his, but someone’s on the faculty. He is a teacher, for God’s sake, he reminds himself. He dares to throw a look at Rey’s profile, just as she’s scrubbing a spot on a plate, face scrunched up in concentration, and it slips out.

“You don’t seem worried,” he says, and Rey shrugs again.

“I won’t tell if you don’t. Besides, these are my friends out there. Finn knows, because I—” she catches herself, but then shrugs again, deciding that honesty probably is the best course of action here. “Because I told him I went home with Tall, Dark and Handsome”, she gestures off-handedly to his tall frame, foam floating from her finger to her cheek, “and I did not expect you to ever be in the same circle as me. You obviously come from money, and I’m…I don’t,” she finishes after a thought. When Rey finally looks at him, Ben cannot stop himself from taking the drying cloth and gently removing the foam from Rey’s face. “That’s gross”, she points out, nonetheless grateful to be free of bubbles.

“Sorry”, he says, and Rey gives him a small smile. It’s not genuine, but it has the merit to break a little of the tension. “Poe must’ve been a mind reader in another life because he knows everything.”

“It can be creepy, I’ll admit” Ben offers, and this time, the smile they share is genuine. The longer they smile though, the more awkward the situation becomes.

“So,” Rey starts just as Ben begins, “Poe’s—”, they both come to a stop, and Rey encourages him to continue.

“Poe’s been my friend for as long as I can remember.”

“Finn’s like my brother”, she ventures, and, habit be damned, she rocks on her heels.

“So we’re going to see a lot more of each other, then, if these two stay together.”

“It appears so.”

There’s silence, and then, “what do you teach?” she blurts out, and knocks her heels a little more.

“French.”

“Engineering”, she offers back, and he frowns. “Study, I mean. I study engineering.”

“Ah.”

“Different building. From yours. I imagine”, she mumbles, tripping over her words, and Ben’s lips almost quirk up. He doesn’t find her cute. He doesn’t. Maybe just a little.

“Is it going to be a problem?” she asks, and Ben knows what she’s referring to.

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

She sounds so downcast, so—lost, suddenly, and Ben tries to rectify his phrasing.

“I don’t mean,” Ben starts again, clearly trying to get his bearings, “that you are going to be a problem. Obviously. I just mean, seeing you.”

“Right, yes, that would be awkward,” Rey agrees noncommittally, and she drops the last cleaned plate on the rack, somewhat harder than necessary. “I should go.” And Ben knows he should let her go, and yet—

“I mean, Rey, that it will be hard to see you and not want to, well, kiss you. And—other things. That we shouldn’t mention again. Because it wouldn’t be appropriate. Because I’m a teacher.”

He sounds so different from a few weeks ago, like he’s trying to convince himself, when he’d been so clear on what, who he wanted, and how, and Rey shouldn’t be thinking about this Ben because it’s clear he’s regretting it, but maybe, just maybe—

It rings clearly in the empty kitchen, and she can feel the tension reach a high point when she utters the words, “You’re not mine.”

“What?”

“Teacher. You’re not my teacher. We’ve never even met on campus, and it’s a massive one, anyway, I mean the odds of us meeting in the first place were so slim, but now you’re here and I’m— Poe’s talked about you before, I just didn’t know he meant, well, _you_. Why were you at Jessika’s get together,” she asks, words tumbling down like they do when she’s stressed or frustrated, and Ben’s looking more and more like he’s going to be ill.

“Please stop doing that”, he pleads, and Rey squints up at him. He’s so _tall_. And she wants nothing more than to kick everyone out and to just—touch him. Like she used to be allowed to do.

“Do what?” she asks, stepping forward towards him. She’s emboldened by the deer-in-the-headlights look he’s sporting, like she physically weakens him, and perhaps she wants him to be weak, for her—

“This… _offensive_. You’re trying to corner me. I’m twice your size.”

“And yet it looks as though I’m succeeding,” she muses aloud, and Ben’s throat visibly moves as he swallows.

“I’m not as bold as you are, Rey, but let me be crystal clear. We are not happening again.”

“I’m graduating in June,” she says, and Ben’s eyes focus on hers.

“We’re not happening until July,” he corrects himself and Rey’s grin blooms on her face, taking over and changing her entire facial expression.

“You like me,” she sing-songs, and Ben bites his lips.

“I’d be a fool not to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking till the end. English isn't my first language, and I'm practicing. But Reylo got me wanting to write again, because I'm trash and they belong together. I just want to help pushing things along.  
> Comments and kudos are welcome, Prompts are also welcome!


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